On a buzzer beater by Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks salvaged a win last night in Memphis after blowing another ten point lead, this time with 3:37 to play. Melo, after popping the jumper, had some interesting interplay with the Grizzlies’ bench. Defensive “stopper” Tony Allen, did little to contain Anthony overall, who put together another great stat line (31 pts, 5 reb., 6 assts). Anthony, who an excited Memphis bench regaled with sentiments his game winning shot was off when it left his hands, went back at the Memphis sideline and said simply, “I do this” when the shot fell.

Exciting times for the Knicks indeed. Don’t mistake our silence on the Carmelo saga and on the beginning of this era as a lack of excitement for what’s going on. We stated here months ago that Gallinari, probably Chandler, and a pick swung from Minny for Anthony Randolph was going to Denver. We wrote–months ago–that Melo was engineering a trade to NY and that privately he had shot down the Nets. Even publicly, he couldn’t even fake being lukewarm toward the proposition of NJ. He could’ve had a deal to the Nets at any point since June. Instead, when Denver obviously begged their disgruntled star to thow them a bone in the form of some leverage, Anthony spoke not of New Jersey but of perhaps signing the extension with Denver.

We’ve had a big picture view on the Knicks dating back about 6 years now. The Anthony acquisition is a major step, but part of a much larger long term process. First, we rooted for Thomas to do enough damage to get himself fired, which finally happened with an assist from Stephon Marbury who testified about pressuring a young female Garden employee into giving him a blowjob. Then, Thomas had to be replaced with a quality hire. Sure, we’ve made fun of Donnie Wheelchair, and we hate his draft acumen, but he is a pro. He had a plan and stuck to it, giving the Knicks the chance to slot in stars the magnitude and calibre of the ones now on board.

These exciting times and last second wins? Great to be excited, but putting teams away when up 10 or 12 in the 4th quarter is a lot more gratifying in our minds. Still, it’s a long view. You know our feeling on Mike D’antoni. We’d never hire him. Ever. Not for the Knicks, not for a Division III school, not for an AAU gig, not even to mop up court sweat. We’ve never seen any facsimile of speedball win big on any level. Showtime out in LA and all fast break basketball is predicated on stops, rebounds, and turnovers that lead to easy scores. Remember the Riley credo: “No rebounds, no rings.”

The next step in the Knicks progression is probably going to be growth from within. Fields and Douglass have upside and are improving. We expect 7 or 8 guys from this squad to return next year and that they’ll improve as a group. Seven foot pivot Jerome Jordan, a 2nd round pick last year, will probably be imported from Europe. He’s a big who showed polish and promise in college, and who is currently showing a knack for scoring down low overseas. The Knicks must draft wisely in round 1 this year (BTW, did anyone hear Kemba Walker lobbying this week to come to NY?), and may be served to buy another pick, ala the Toney D. selection, which they acquired for cash from the Lakers.

But Mike D.? If we could only sell him off. Short practices, disinterested walkthroughs and shoot arounds. Mishandled player relations (Nate Robinson, Jordan Hill, etc.) We guess Walsh can live with it so far. But all the late blown leads and not running plays late in the games? Our media is already tiring of this act. The Post this week had a snappy headline in which they referred to him as “Done-toni.”

If Garden management is so slow to take care of Walsh, who always represents the team in a respectful fashion, why would they be in a rush to extend the coach? Especially one whose rationale for not calling a timeout to set up a play at the end of games is along the lines of ‘we basically know what to do.’ Really? Did they know what to do in Phily weeks back when they blew another double digit lead in the 4th, went down 10, and cut it to 2 in the closing seconds? D’antoni didn’t call for a timeout, the Knicks had no play, ran something we’d describe as chaos, and watched Shawne Williams, fresh off the scrap heap, force a drive when the Stoudemires, Chandlers, Gallos, and Feltons of the world watched.

We will suggest right here that D’antoni is also mishandling Chauncey Billups and his injury situation. Billups hurt his quad 6 games ago. D’antoni has termed him day to day the whole while. How is a guy not named John Abraham day to day for 2 full weeks? Not only do we not think D’antoni is being honest, we also don’t feel he and Billups are on the same page. Billups said of a Sunday return, “not looking good.” D’antoni said Billups is “coming back Sunday.” We think D’antoni is afraid to tell the media the truth about Billups, in part. The guy is a self preservationist, and he must know that a 3rd free pass in a row, at $6M per, is unlikely, even from the imminently wasteful Madison Square Garden Co.

And here’s what a good coach says: ‘So and so’s not playing. Injuries are part of the game. Out of sight, out of mind. We’re gonna play without him and we’ll be ready.’ A good coach doesn’t clutch at excuses. A good coach wouldn’t be afraid to go up to the 5 seed and face Orlando. He wouldn’t be making excuses about how hard it is to lose Billups, or how unrealistic it is to think the Knicks are more on a level with Atlanta than Charlotte. The Knicks took it to the Magic for a chunk of their last meeting in Orlando, in what was another second half debacle. A very quick Jameer Nelson killed them off the dribble and with the shot. How about at least pretending you have a shred of confidence in Toney Douglass as another option against Nelson?

Another local beat guy, Alan Hahn of Newsday, has been maligning the Knicks execution, an obvious shot at D’antoni. Hahn’s a guy you should pay particular attention to. Why? Because the Garden owns Newsday, and MSG Network has been giving Hahn lots of air time of late, featuring him on Knicks broadcasts in a prominent role.

BTW, be sure to tune in tonight when the Knicks face the Mavs wearing their “Nueva York” jerseys for some NBA Spanish night nonsense. The Knicks have the worst winning percentage of any club over the last 9 seasons. But something about these Nueva York jerseys might bother us even more than that.

We are not ashamed to say that we had the Knicks projected at 10-24 at this point, and that we had major problems with the construction of the roster. The David Lee trade? Awful. To get back perpetual dog house resident Anthony Randolph as the centerpiece of a deal in which you trade a 20/10 guy, and to also recieve Kelenna Azabuike–yet to play and who may not recover from a serious knee injury in time to ever play for the team–is akin to letting Lee walk for nothing. Well, at least we got back scary looking Ronny Turiaf, who has had a positive effect in his minutes, and who becomes a downright essential cog for the thin Knicks in the absence of Gallinari.

What about our good friends Roger Mason and Timofey Mozgov, 2 players the Knicks alotted cap space to, who, well, suck it hard? Between Randolph, Azabuike, Mozgov, and Mason, the Knicks have tied up 1/3 of their roster with totally unusable players. Not to mention Eddy Curry.

Shawne Williams? We like him fine and think the former first rounder and journeyman deftly rescued himself from the scrap heap by shooting the lights out in limited action, and continued to shock us in a rousing win versus the Spurs by making plays with his back to the basket. Very nice. But let’s be real. He wasn’t brought here to or expected to contribute.

Are we upset that first Shannon Brown and then the absolutely awful Roger Mason were pretty much guaranteed starters’ minutes by D’antoni at the virtual expense of Wilson Chandler, who just kept his head down and played hard? Yes. In looking at this woeful roster, we clearly identified Chandler as 1 of the 4 guys with actual basketball talent on this team (along with Stoudemire, Felton, and Douglass). Since then, we’ve upgraded our assessment. This team has 5 players with basketball talent (all credit goes to the surprisingly gifted hard work guy from Stanford, Landry Fields, currently leading all guards in rebounding). Chandler, the 2nd or 3rd best, has thoroughly impressed us and we’re not surprised at all. Tuesday night, W.C. had 31 pts. on 13/19 from the field, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, and was too much for Richard Jefferson to handle. The fact is, on most nights and even against some very good teams, a few players can carry the multitude of bad ones. The Knicks also channeled that Garden energy left up in the rafters from the previous night’s incredible St. John’s victory.

The NBA is a star driven league, and Amar’e is playing like an MVP calibre, 1st team All NBA guy. Raymond Felton is playing the best ball of his career (17 pts, 7 assts per), and out-played Spurs star Tony Parker most recently (28/7 vs. 26/6) in the Knicks’ banner win at MSG. Chandler, who proved early on he could not be driven from the lineup, has been so good that Donnie Wheelchair has now vowed to re-sign him, even with the player in line for perhaps a $ 60M contract.

The Knicks big 3 of Stoudemire, Chandler, and Felton is proving so good that they can carry the team, even against some top squads. Even in the absence of Gallinari, who we think sucks anyway. Face it. How many teams have a triumvirate that it out producing the Knicks’ big 3? As we see it, it’s something only elite teams can say.

We also see a silver lining with Gallinari’s injury. While we are totally unimpressed with Italy’s finest, and while we especially pan his supposed strength–his perimeter game–he does seem to be developing a better repertoire as a guy who can put it on the floor and get to the rim. For all his faults, he’s a young guy, at 6’10, playing major minutes on a winning team. Denver, who seems intent on getting back 1-2 players and picks for Carmelo, might be willing to take Landry Fields, as well as the young talent and picks that a Gallinari and an Anthony Randolph could bring back, since we’re hearing the Nuggets aren’t big on either. For now, we’ll kindly hold off on the bust tag for these guys.

As for the immediate future, Amar’e returns to Phoenix Friday night. We look for our captain to be extra motivated against his old squad.

Not that we think the guy is even a remotely good player, but in poring over his stats we did find something about the 15 pt/4 rb a night 6’10 Italian virtual shooting guard who can’t shoot straight–the Knicks have a more than plus 8 margin when Danilo Gallinari is on the court. And he’s on the court a lot for our Knickerbockers. The Italian, who the Knicks clearly grabbed way too soon at #6 overall in 2008, over standouts like Eric Gordon and Brook Lopez, and who we figure they must trade in order to pull off a mega deal such as the one being discussed for Carmelo Anthony, has played better of late, putting the ball on the court way more than usual, and aggressively making his way to the rim.

With a paired down rotation that already sees the Knicks sitting much discussed Russian center Timofey Mozgov, Anthony Randolph (the centerpiece of the David Lee signing trade), and Roger Mason (beaten out for minutes by rookie 2nd round pick out of Stanford Landry Fields who leads all guards in rebounds with 7.5 per game), the Knicks will look to Shawne Williams, a former 1st round pick of Donnie Wheelchair’s in Indiana whose slick shooting has resurrected his career in NY, and heart and guts but no talent big man Ronny Turiaf (who currently sports the league’s worst facial hair and who is quite possibly basketball’s ugliest man) to fill in the gap.

No doubt, this bare bones squad will miss Gallinari for the next few weeks, as they are currently constituted. The Knicks supposdely have an interest in former Knicks’ 7 footer, a guy we liked, Earl Barron, and may have no choice but to go small and give explosive but erratic Bill Walker some minutes, who is probably better than Roger Mason.

Sasha Vujacic has had his last meaningful fist bump with the great Kobe Bryant unless the two re-unite in free agency. Unfortunately for Masha’s man, the versatile guard was shipped to the Nets in a complicated three team trade this evening in which the Nets were able to dump the chronically late Terrence Williams on Houston in exchange for Joe Smith, with 2 first rounders coming back to New Jersey.

Under the deal, the Nets acquire a 2011 pick from the Lakers and a 2012 pick from the Rockets and Williams goes to Houston. The Nets also send veteran Joe Smith to the Lakers, who give up Vujacic and his expiring contract. There could be other parts to the deal, including an exchange of cash.

Although the deal has been agreed upon by all parties, it cannot be announced until Wednesday, when Smith becomes trade-eligible. Free agents acquired over the summer cannot be traded until Wednesday. Williams confirmed his departure in a tweet Tuesday night: “To all my Jersey fans and people, it’s been real. I love y’all and thanks. To Houston, what up. Go Rockets.”

While also getting valuable rebuilding pieces, the Nets are ridding themselves of a player who clashed with coach Avery Johnson and appeared stifled under the team’s system.

The 11th overall pick in the 2009 draft, who was touted as a premier talent by then-Nets GM Rod Thorn, Williams was deactivated before Tuesday night’s game against the 76ers. He was not at the arena. The last time that happened, Williams had been repeatedly late to team gatherings, including games and practices.

Williams, who shows tremendous promise from a standpoint of talent, was recently demoted to the d-league for his inability to conform to team rules. Former Knick and current Celtic fireplug Nate Robinson, a close friend of Williams, had blasted the Nets in the press for their failure to make sure that Williams had the support he needed to make meetings and practices, and implied that Nets’ new coach Avery Johnson, is not much of a people person. The little big man wouldn’t be the first to put that knock on Johnson, who has always been inflexible, to a fault.

Though the move seems to bode well for the Nets’ chances at acquiring Melo, chiefly because the oh so cheap Nuggets are intent on scoring a bushel of 1st rounders for their disgruntled star, it in no way means that Anthony would be happy in Newark for the next 2 seasons playing Johnson’s version of down tempo basketball, while hearing his annoying scratchy bark all the time. It also doesn’t mean that Nets’ owner Mikhail Prokhorov is willing to ante up the big dollars for Melo. Last week, Dallas owner Mark Cuban suggeted that Prokhorov was cheap and lacked the balls to make big acquisitions, even calling the Nets’ billionaire owner a “pussy.”

Vujacic’s nearly $5M salary slot will opne up for the Nets at season’s end, meaning the Nets will have additional money to lavish on questionable talent like the Troy Murphy’s of the world. But even though the Nets seemed poised to deal for Melo and seem best matched to meet Denver’s demands, Anthony must be unimpressed with NJ’s set up and lack of talent, and the fact that they are 2 years away from Brooklyn bodes poorly. In fact, we can not see Anthony signing any extension this year, despite the uncertainty over the next labor agreement.

It’s possible that Anthony, under a new agreement, may max out well below the 3 yrs/$65M that is on the table. Still, with all the pomp and ceremony surrounding the top free agents last summer, and with Anthony being, far and away, the top free agent prize this sumer, one would think that he would cherish the opportunity to be wooed and coveted the way Bosh, Wade, and James were. Though commissioner Stern drives a hard bargain, let’s face it: the league is not exactly in the poor house. Anthony would rate the absolute max under whatever agreement the league and players come to, and something about playing with Dwight Howard in Orlando, or Amar’e Stoudemire for that matter, in his home town where his wife has lobbied for him to land, has got to appeal to Anthony, especially considering the Knicks’ resurgence and their surprising success this season.

And if the Nets can land 2 #1’s for old man Joe Smith and late man Williams, Donnie Walsh should be in good shape when he does the inevitable and officially places Anthony Randolph on the block. Right now, word out of Denver is that the Nuggets feel the Knicks don’t have the picks to offer in a deal that they’d be looking for, but it’s only December, and this thing isn’t going to play ou for a couple of months yet. We’re also hearing the Nuggets are smitten with Knicks’ rookie Landry Fields, who has shocked us with his cool play and machine like rebounding at the two guard position.

Pacers guard Brandon Rush (above), who attributes a torn ACL to an improper workout conducted by the New York Knicks, prior to his draft selection by Indiana.

Mike D’antoni doesn’t play bad rookies. Remember that one? Jordan Hill, whom the Knicks drafted 8th overall in the 2009 draft, and later packaged, begrudgingly, with their 2010 first round pick for Tracy McGrady and cap room which all the top tier free agents turned down, was apparently a bad rookie. One might glean such from D’antoni’s reaction to Hill’s statement after he had played his first game as a Rocket, after Hill was a monster on the boards and had just contributed to a Houston victory over New York. The reporters wanted to know why he thought he didn’t receive much of an opportunity on a terrible Knicks team. Hill said he didn’t think D’antoni liked playing rookies. D’antoni replied that he played rookies, “just not bad ones.”

Excuse us, but we were under the impression that Mike D’antoni had a say in that draft selection, much as he had a say the year before when the Knicks drafted D’antoni’s Italian boy toy, the object of his raampant lust, Danillo Galinari. Even if D’antoni was absent from the conversation with regard to the drafting of Hill, highly unlikely, the coach was still throwing his boss, Donnie Walsh, under the bus. Not a very nice thing to do considering that Walsh brought in D’antoni for a very generous $26.5M, topping his next best offer, from the very talented Chicago Bulls, by almost $10M.

Walsh candidly discussed his reluctance to part with Hill and the team’s most recent first round pick in summer interviews, where he went so far as to say that he had probably made a mistake. And Walsh discussed his hip replacement surgery (a bus ran him over, remember), and described how he had spent much of the preceeding months wheelchair bound. That must have gone over superbly with Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, when Walsh wheeled into the conference room to make the Knicks’ pitch of pitches.

So the 8th pick isn’t good enough, but apparently, the 38th pick is–as well as a nobody on nobody’s radar–rookie free agent big man Timofey Mozgov. D’antoni announced today that 2nd round pick Landry Fields (38th overall) had supplanted 6’9 Wilson Chandler, who is generally good for 15 ppg. At the same time, D’antoni also let us know that Mozgov would be the starting center. Who can recall for me a good team in the modern era who started s 2nd round draft pick, let alone, a 2nd round pick and undrafted rookie free agent?

Sure the Knicks suck. I mean, that is completely obvious. Even if they fielded the best possible team they could, which would probably see neither Fields nor Mozgov in their normal rotation, let alone, alotting them starters’ minutes. And by the way, we have been saying Chandler’s job was in trouble for some time, though we don’t understand why. When Walsh was whispering to backup free agent two guards like Shannon Brown and Roger Mason, whom the Knicks signed, permed hair and all, that Chandler’s job could be had, we understood quite clearly that the Depaul product’s days in New York were numbered. Though we have also heard this week that the Knicks have opened contract extension talks with Chandler. Devalue and then extend? That’s a rather contradictory management approach, but I guess they feel they have a better chance of signing Chandler than they did of getting Lebron James to come to the phone on a warm July night last summer.

Still, Hill and Chandler might come back and hurt the Knicks very badly, as the team’s latest scandal unfolds.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports broke news earlier today of former New York Knicks Director of East Coast scouting Rodney Heard conducting illegal pre-draft workouts in gymnasiums in Atlanta.These workout sessions allegedly took place before the 2007, 2009, and 2010 NBA drafts.

NBA rules allow teams only two workouts with players spaced three days apart. Teams are also not allowed to work out any players before the annual NBA pre-draft camp.

Prior to the 2007 draft, Heard supposedly used his relationship with Wilson Chandler‘s agent, Chris Luchey, to work work out with Chandler for weeks.

This certainly gave the Knicks an unfair advantage over other teams, as they had more exposure and direct access to Chandler to further evaluate his talent and potential at the NBA level. Chandler was generally regarded as a second-round pick coming into the draft and has since been one of the great picks of the 2007 class.

Wilson declined an invite to the NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando and canceled workouts with multiple teams prior to the draft. He scheduled seven workouts in the nine days leading up to the draft, and there were questions at the time as to whether or not he already had an understanding with a team as a guaranteed selection in the first round.

Now that this story has come to light, it’s all but certain that he had an agreement with the Knicks to forgo workouts with other teams with the assurance that he would be their pick at No. 23.

The man leading the front office—the man most likely responsible for those assurances—was none other than Isiah Thomas. Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be.

This also helps to debunk the absurd notion that Thomas is an amazing evaluator of talent, as it appears that he has had an unfair advantage.

The man currently in charge, Donnie Walsh, has denied any knowledge or involvement in the illegal draft workout sessions supervised by Heard. Until a formal investigation uncovers the truth, we can only take him at his word.

The more intriguing story is that of Indiana Pacers guard Brandon Rush.

Rush—an All-American from Kansas who was projected as a high lottery pick in the 2007 draft—suffered a devastating ACL tear in his right knee during one of the workouts led by Heard. This injury and the six months of rehabilitation that followed forced him to pull out of the 2007 draft.